In the heady days of the pandemic we were all paradoxically tuned in and locked down--limited in movement and yet hyperaware of the global spread of the virus, attuned to injustice and inequalities, and in many ways unable to create and connect as before. Natural Magic (Matthew Quiet and Michael McKinnon) managed to get into the studio and work out the jams that would coalesce into the record at hand. Early in January TP managed to get on a zoom with the guys and have a bit of a chat. "We had a space that we were able to use. It was a friend's synth repair shop in what used to be a recording studio, so it had an amazing soundtracking room and stuff, but it was just filled with all of his synthesizers and things he's working on...so we just like hunkered down..."

II is truly cosmic music of the highest order, long spacey jams brilliantly condensed, à la Teo Macero. Reference points would be Neu!, Manuel Göttsching/Ashra at his most otherworldly. "Galaxy Builder" sets the pace, uptempo, storming drums, a synth convocation. "Don't Look Back" cools down the pace, cymbals, Frippy guitar, stoned beats. "Distant Bells" is an ecstatic psalm recalling "Blackouts"-era Ashra. "Skyward Eye" a spaced-out drum & keyboard groover. "Get It Right" takes things dubwise. "Ride" is a guitar showcase leading into "Chugsby's Theme", an elegiac closing weeper.

Natural Magic is also a DJ duo behind Portland's legendary Limited Edition parties - hosting folks like Justin van der Volgen, Optimo, Powder, and DJ Harvey. Have a go on Google and you can find some top mixes from these parties. Both moved to Portland and met up in the late aughts, so magical a time in the Rose City it entered mass consciousness being satirised on a hit TV show. "There were just house parties all the time. Everyone was playing music. Everything was free. It was like some kind of barter system, like the kids had been given the keys to the city, and were just doing whatever they wanted. It was super fun at the time."

II is the final Optimo Music vinyl release Keith McIvor / JD Twitch had a hand in before his untimely passing last year. Matt & Mike met Keith when they booked Optimo in 2008 for a party on Obama's inauguration night (what a night that was - ed.) put on by the Oregon Democratic Party and alt-weekly Willamette Week. "It said right on their website if you can't afford to have both of us, one of us will come and we'll make it work. And that's exactly what happened. So Keith came here, he played in Seattle, and the party was unbelievable. He just played all over the place, like only he could do and there were all these older ladies crying and dancing, pushing around a cardboard cutout of Obama. But then we became friends, and we booked him another three or four times."

There are still a few physical copies of II left on Bandcamp. Snag one HERE

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